Ships · Soviet Union · 1935-1945
Kirov-class cruiser
light cruiser
The Soviet Navy's principal wartime cruiser class, six light cruisers built 1935-1944 across three related subclasses (Project 26, 26bis and 26bis2), designed with technical assistance from Italy's Ansaldo yard and derived from the Raimondo Montecuccoli class. Armed with nine 180mm guns in triple turrets, they were the first large warships the Soviet Union built entirely from the keel up after the Russian Civil War. Baltic Fleet ships Kirov and Maxim Gorky supported the defence of Leningrad under siege, while Black Sea Fleet cruisers Voroshilov and Molotov bombarded Axis positions and took battle damage of their own; the two Pacific Fleet ships saw no wartime action. All six survived the war.
| displacement | 7,890 tonnes standard / 9,436 tonnes full load |
|---|---|
| armament | 9x 180 mm guns, 6x 100 mm guns, torpedo tubes |
| speed | 36 knots |
| built | 6 ships (1935-1944) |
